U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller warned that Russian intelligence services still have active “interference operations” into U.S. elections and that handing over certain evidence in a criminal case could imperil ongoing investigations.

Mueller on Tuesday asked a federal judge in Washington for an order to protect voluminous evidence sought by lawyers for Concord Management and Consulting LLC, one of three companies and 13 Russian nationals charged in a February indictment alleging election meddling via social media. Prosecutors have uncovered evidence of other individuals and entities who are “continuing to engage” in similar activities.

The legal battle between Mueller and Concord’s attorneys highlights the tension between intelligence-gathering, which is cloaked in secrecy, and the U.S. legal system, which entitles criminal defendants to review evidence against them. Lawyers for Concord, a company linked to a longtime associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, have been negotiating to obtain documents from the special counsel to mount a legal defense.

Unauthorized disclosure of such evidence would help foreign intelligence services in Russia and elsewhere while undermining U.S. law enforcement and national security investigations, Mueller’s prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s request for a protective order.

U.S. documents identify “sources, methods, and techniques used to identify the foreign actors behind these interference operations,” Mueller wrote. Improper disclosure of that information would tip foreign intelligence services about how the U.S. operates and let them “adjust their conduct, thus undermining ongoing and future national security operations.”

Well that’s a sticky wicket now, isn’t it? (Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of British TV shows.)

On the one hand our open legal system allows defendants access to the evidence being used against them in court, but in this case, that evidence could be used to out intelligence agents, undermine the investigation, and potentially increase the Russians ability to interfere in our political system.

Actually, Mueller is offering a solution:

Under Mueller’s proposed plan, any foreign national who wants to disclose sensitive materials would have to go through a “firewall counsel” for the government, which would be separate from the prosecution team.

Sounds fair, let’s see what the judge says.

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‘“We are not funded by the Russians,” he told Reuters. “If he does not retract the statement, we will go ahead and sue him for defamation. So he can save himself a whole load of time and money and just retract it.”’

” “Cohen says he feels the legal noose closing in around him. Yesterday indicated he thought he might be arrested at any moment and we know from today he is worried about the prospect of an indictment coming as early as tomorrow, and what he has told people is that he is considering making a deal with the SDNY. ”
“. If Michael Cohen is more worried about Mueller than New York, it makes one wonder what kind of potential crimes with Russia did Michael Cohen commit for Trump? If Cohen is counting on Trump to show some sort of loyalty or gratitude, he should know better. Trump is loyal to no one. He will let Cohen rot in prison for the rest of his life if it means saving his own skin.

The pardon Cohen wants isn’t coming, so he better cut the deal and flip on Trump, or be prepared to die in prison.”

anonymous
June 13, 2018 at 3:48 pm

“Robert Mueller inadvertently released an un-redacted exhibit of evidence against former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Wednesday.

Natasha Bertrand, staff writer for The Atlantic and MSNBC contributor, posted the exhibit to her personal Twitter account.